Wiwi Jury results: Emma is our favourite to win UMK17

Today is the day! It’s been a long wait after the ten songs competing at Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2017 were released over two months ago. Today it’s finally time to find out who will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — reviewed all the competing songs over the past two weeks. Now it’s time to go through the results and see who is our favourite to win UMK17.

You can check out snippets of our reviews below. If you click the song title, you can get to our full review.

1. Emma – “Circle of Light” (8.59)

Positive: Rakas, we are fine. Emma — slayer of spiritual out-of-this-world bangers — has a chance of making the top ten in Kyiv. It’s the first song that’s made me feel this way this year. Her strong and compelling vocals combined with a well-crafted instrumental make me feel like I’m safe in her circle of light. It gives me life. (Bernardo)

Negative: However, the reason why I can’t give “Circle of Light” more than seven points is that it reminds me too much of last year’s Icelandic entry “Hear Them Calling”. Although I liked that song, I found it too repetitive, and I have the same issue with Emma’s number. But maybe this year the audience will appreciate Emma’s effort more than Greta Salóme’s. (Jovana)

2. Alva – “Arrows” (6.97)

Positive: Amazing production, catchy melody and a rising star with a beautiful voice. This is a pop masterpiece, a real gem. I can hardly find anything bad to say about this. I could totally see this doing well in the actual contest as well. (Sami)

Negative: My only concern is that the song can feel a little repetitive — even the music video couldn’t manage to cover up the sameness. (Robyn)

3. Norma John – “Blackbird” (6.79)

Positive: I’m completely mesmerized. Such a beautiful production. So low key, so simple, but so strong, and the instrumental part just sent shivers down my spine. And Leena’s soft and heavenly voice is the icing on the cake here. (Kristin)

Negative: 30 seconds into this I had to check if I still had a pulse, as the song just loops monotonously until a rather long instrumental break. It sounds like a mash-up of Elisabeth Andreassen’s Melodifestivalen 2011 song “Vaken I En Dröm” (which finished last in its semi) and a song they’d play in a made-for-TV movie about senior citizens. I appreciate the beauty here. But sometimes beauty needs a bit of ugliness and grit to make it memorable. (William)

4. Lauri Yrjölä – “Helppo elämä” (6.35)

Positive: Everything works. The production is edgy and modern, combining guitar with electronic sounds. Lauri has so much attitude in his vocals that it doesn’t matter he’s singing in a language most Eurovision viewers wouldn’t understand. The chorus is ridiculously catchy and is what keeps sending me back to the replay button. This is UMK at its best. (Robyn)

Negative: After a solid start, this song gives us the cheapest chorus you could hope for. I’ve heard this three thousand times before and Lauri’s entry comes across as highly unoriginal. The song is trying to be very 2017 but it ends up being swallowed in the masses of 2016. As much as I love hearing non-English songs at Eurovision, Finland would do well to stick with one of their English options. (Antranig)

5. Anni Saikku – “Reach Out for the Sun” (6.21)

Positive: Anni’s voice is everything. Deep, sexy and inviting, it gets me hooked from the very first note. “Reach Out for the Sun” is lyrically so well constructed that I might forget how instrumentally weak the chorus is. I wouldn’t mind seeing this at Eurovision, but there are at least two better songs. (Bernardo)

Negative: Build, build, build, build and then… destroy everything you did in the past minute because the chorus is the flattest thing ever. Anni has a sultry voice, and she manages to get you into the song in the verses, but then the chorus comes and everything vanishes. I’d even say it’s lazy — it’s a pop-drop taken to its maximum, and that’s not what a Eurovision entry needs. As we say in Spain, it feels as if Anni had horchata instead of blood running through her veins. (Luis)

6. Günther & D’Sanz – “Love Yourself” (5.18)

Positive: From the pornstache to the aviator sunglasses to the saucy lyrics, Günther proves himself to be the master of the burgeoning gigolo discotheque genre. On the surface his song is a high-octane ode to hedonism and masturbation. But in instructing us to love ourselves and feel a little pleasure, he also suggests we should live each moment to the fullest and seize the day (if not the hot guy at the bar). Look past the sleaze and you’ll find an anthem of empowerment. (William)

Negative: “Baila el Chiki” mixed with Germany’s Guildo Horn and with a wannabe Danny Saucedo for the chorus. What a sad outcome though! If I heard only the chorus I might like this a bit. But even the chorus is a tad old fashioned and sounds a bit like a Takasa rip-off. It is Eurovision-y — but with a cheap melody, one okay singer, a grandpa and some creepy lyrics. It’s sad and funny at the same time. Lord help them. (Patrick)

7. Zühlke – “Perfect Villain” (4.74)

Positive: Scratch the lyrics, keep the production, keep the voice. Zühlke has sassy powerful vocals and I’m beyond excited to see her on stage — I’m sure it will give life to this song. (Bernardo)

Negative: After giving a listen to Zühlke’s entry, I needed the X-Men to rescue me. She can do wonders with those vocals. But this song doesn’t fit her voice at all and the lyrics make no sense. Her song sounds promising in the first bridge, building and embracing power and darkness, but gets cheesy with all those Superman references. I’m kinda pissed! (Jordi)

8. My First Band – “Paradise” (4.74)

Positive: The music is on point and I like the singalong elements on the song, but the lyrics are just cringe. I really want to like this, as they have great stage presence and Antti has a nice, pleasant voice. (Sami)

Negative: There is always a point where innuendo crosses the line into sleaze and “Paradise” sails way past that line. The lyrics are ham-fisted and reminiscent of a child who has just learned a dirty joke — constantly repeating it and waiting for you to laugh. The problem is that I got the joke after the first 10 seconds, didn’t find it terribly funny, and still had to listen to it for another two-and-a-half minutes. (Forrest)

9. Club La Persé – “My Little World” (3.88)

Positive: Part of my criteria for assessing a potential Eurovision act is to ask “Would this act be fun to party with?” And in the case of Club La Persé, the answer is hell yeah! “My Little World” brings their chaotic, gender-bending club-kids scene to UMK, with an uplifting dance track. And regardless of how they sound live, the group’s strong visual aesthetic will be amazing at the UMK final. This song will annoy the heck out of people who like their Eurovision entries super serious, but for everyone else, the dance floor is this way. (Robyn)

Negative: “My little world is going nowhere”. I couldn’t have said it better. Club La Persé nail it visually, but their song falls very short. This needs much more punch: it should be catchy…but it’s not! If I saw Club La Persé at a club, I’d want to give it all on the dance floor, but with this song, I’d only sit back and have a drink. The closest act to this would be Denmark’s DQ in 2007. Both acts wanted to be the bomb, but they are no more than a firecracker. (Luis)

10. Knucklebone Oscar & The Shangri-La Rubies – “Caveman” (1.71)

Positive: I listened to the audio version of “Cavemen” and focused strictly on the song. And it is not bad. The music in the background and the melody are fine, and I can see Knucklebone Oscar & The Shangri-La Rubies putting on a good cabaret-like, swing-flavoured show. (Jovana)

Negative: I can appreciate a novelty act if it makes me laugh, but “Caveman” makes me cringe. I genuinely feel bad for the poor artists who actually have talent that missed out on UMK this year over this garbage. I’ll be using this song as my toilet break this year. (Josh)

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